3,814 research outputs found
Finding out what works and what doesn't work : caring for women with a fungating tumour of the breast : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing at Massey University, Albany Campus, New Zealand
A fungating tumour of the breast causes distress to those living with the illness and createss many challenges to the nurses who care for them. Control of malodour. exudate, haemorrhage and cosmetic acceptability creates complex wound care problems. Managing to live and maintain a sense of normality must take account of the palliative and chronic nature of this illness. This study utilises the grounded theory research method to discover the main concerns of nurses who care for this group of clients and how they continually resolve them. Three women who have this condition have provided information that adds and lends support to how the nurses provide care. This thesis argues that finding what works and what doesn't work is the core process that resolves the main concern of striving to maintain a sense of normality in life activities. Problem-solving, wound care and wider psychosocial problems initiate the process of finding what works and what doesn't work. Through making sense of the situation by gaining an understanding of the women's situations, being non-judgemental and building trusting relationships, the ability to find what works and what doesn't work is more likely to be achieved. This must take account of the physical, cultural and professional considerations that impact on the nurse's ability to provide appropriate care. The consequence of finding what works and what doesn't work is that the nurses' practice has the capacity to be transformed. This study provides insight into the creativity and complexity that characterises expert community nursing practice in caring for this particularly challenging group of clients
On homomorphisms between specht modules for the Ariki-Koike algebra
Specht modules occupy a position of central importance in the representation theory of
both the symmetric and Iwahori-Hecke algebras, and there is hence considerable interest
in achieving a greater understanding of their structure. To this end, over the past thirty
years there has been much study undertaken of the homomorphism spaces between these
modules, with a particular emphasis being placed upon the construction of explicit homomorphisms
between Specht modules.
Being a generalization of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of type A, Specht modules are of a
similar importance to the Ariki-Koike algebra. In this thesis we provide and analogue
of James’s kernel intersection theorem, the latter having been a key tool in the study
of homomorphisms between Specht modules in the setting of both the symmetric group
and the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of type A. We also provide and outline of how this result
may be used to construct homomorphisms between Specht modules for the Iwahori-Hecke
algebra of type B. Additionally, as a byproduct of this work, we include a sufficient condition
for certain kinds of commonly encountered tableaux to determine homomorphisms
between analogues of Young’s permutation modules and the Specht modules
Stereoscopic Sketchpad: 3D Digital Ink
--Context--
This project looked at the development of a stereoscopic 3D environment in which a user is able to draw freely in all three dimensions. The main focus was on the storage and manipulation of the ‘digital ink’ with which the user draws. For a drawing and sketching package to be effective it must not only have an easy to use user interface, it must be able to handle all input data quickly and efficiently so that the user is able to focus fully on their drawing.
--Background--
When it comes to sketching in three dimensions the majority of applications currently available rely on vector based drawing methods. This is primarily because the applications are designed to take a users two dimensional input and transform this into a three dimensional model. Having the sketch represented as vectors makes it simpler for
the program to act upon its geometry and thus convert it to a model. There are a number of methods to achieve this aim including Gesture Based Modelling, Reconstruction and Blobby Inflation. Other vector based applications focus on the creation of curves allowing the user to draw within or on existing 3D models. They also allow the user to create wire frame type models. These stroke based applications bring the user closer to traditional sketching rather than the more structured modelling methods detailed.
While at present the field is inundated with vector based applications mainly focused upon sketch-based modelling there are significantly less voxel based applications. The majority of these applications focus on the deformation and sculpting of voxmaps, almost the opposite of drawing and sketching, and the creation of three dimensional voxmaps from standard two dimensional pixmaps. How to actually sketch freely within a scene represented by a voxmap has rarely been explored. This comes as a surprise when so many of the standard 2D drawing programs in use today are pixel based.
--Method--
As part of this project a simple three dimensional drawing program was designed and implemented using C and C++. This tool is known as Sketch3D and was created using a Model View Controller (MVC) architecture. Due to the modular nature of Sketch3Ds system architecture it is possible to plug a range of different data structures into the program to represent the ink in a variety of ways. A series of data structures have been implemented and were tested for efficiency. These structures were a simple list, a 3D array, and an octree. They have been tested for: the time it takes to insert or remove points from the structure; how easy it is to manipulate points once they are stored; and also how the number of points stored effects the draw and rendering times.
One of the key issues brought up by this project was devising a means by which a user is able to draw in three dimensions while using only two dimensional input devices. The method settled upon and implemented involves using the mouse or a digital pen to sketch as one would in a standard 2D drawing package but also linking the up and down keyboard keys to the current depth. This allows the user to move in and out of the scene as they draw. A couple of user interface tools were also developed to assist the user. A 3D cursor was implemented and also a toggle, which when on, highlights all of the points intersecting the depth plane on which the cursor currently resides. These tools allow the user to see exactly where they are drawing in relation to previously drawn lines.
--Results--
The tests conducted on the data structures clearly revealed that the octree was the most effective data structure. While not the most efficient in every area, it manages to avoid the major pitfalls of the other structures. The list was extremely quick to render and draw to the screen but suffered severely when it comes to finding and manipulating points already stored. In contrast the three dimensional array was able to erase or manipulate points effectively while the draw time rendered the structure effectively useless, taking huge amounts of time to draw each frame.
The focus of this research was on how a 3D sketching package would go about storing
and accessing the digital ink. This is just a basis for further research in this area and many
issues touched upon in this paper will require a more in depth analysis. The primary area of
this future research would be the creation of an effective user interface and the introduction
of regular sketching package features such as the saving and loading of images
Are Women Beach Volleyballers ‘Too Sexy for Their Shorts?’
This is a paper on the philosophy of sport or the ethics of sport more specifically. It provides a critical assessment of a particular feminist approach to a specific issue in the ethics of sport with regard to what some feminist scholars refer to as the ‘sexualizing’ of women in sport with particular attention paid to women beach volleyballers
The dynamic performance of identity work
As a phenomenon socially constructed and performed through relationships (Ainsworth and Hardy, 2004, Cunliffe, 2008, Beech, 2008), self-identity is inextricably dependent on interpersonal interactions and social contexts (Kondo, 1990, Kondrat, 1999, Ybema et al., 2009). Thus “selves and identities are ‘performed within relationships’, ‘done in interactions’ and/or ‘talked into being’” (Smith and Sparkes, 2008, p.25). As this suggests, identity is performative (Butler, 1990, Smith and Sparkes, 2008) and, therefore, identity work becomes an important feature of the way in which individuals strive to enact, and become, their identity (Kärreman and Alvesson, 2001, Down and Reveley, 2009
Intersectionality and identity: shared tenets and future research agendas for gender and identity studies
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Special Issue developed from a joint research seminar of the Gender in Management and Identity Special Interest Groups of the British Academy of Management, entitled “Exploring the Intersectionality of Gender and Identity”. It also presents an introductory literature review of intersectionality for gender in management and identity/identity work researchers. The authors highlight the similarities and differences of intersectionality and identity approaches and introduce critiques of intersectional research. They then introduce the three papers in this Special Issue.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors review the intersectionality literature within and outside management and organisation studies and focus their attention on three intersectionality Special Issues (Sex Roles, 2008, 2013 and the European Journal of Women’s Studies, 2006).
Findings – The authors outline the ongoing debates relating to intersectionality research, including a framework and/or theory for identity/identity work, and explore the shared tenets of theories of intersectionality and identity. They highlight critiques of intersectionality research in practice and consider areas for future research for gender in management and identity researchers.
Research limitations/implications – The authors provide an architecture for researchers to explore intersectionality and to consider issues before embarking on intersectional research. They also highlight areas for future research, including social-identities of disability, class and religion.
Originality/value – Gender in Management: An International Journal invited this Special Issue to make a significant contribution to an under-researched area by reviewing the shared and different languages and importantly the shared key tenets, of intersectionality, gender, identity and identity work from a multidisciplinary perspective
Operational flow visualization techniques in the Langley Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel
The unitary plan wind tunnel (UPWT) uses in daily operation are shown. New ideas for improving the quality of established flow visualization methods are developed and programs on promising new flow visualization techniques are pursued. The unitary plan wind tunnel is a supersonic facility, referred to as a production facility, although the majority of tests are inhouse basic research investigations. The facility has two 4 ft. by 4 ft. test sections which span a Mach range from 1.5 to 4.6. The cost of operation is about $10 per minute. Problems are the time required for a flow visualization test setup and investigation costs and the ability to obtain consistently repeatable results. Examples of sublimation, vapor screen, oil flow, minitufts, schlieren, and shadowgraphs taken in UPWT are presented. All tests in UPWT employ one or more of the flow visualization techniques
The importance of respect as a discursive resource in making identity claims: insights from the experiences of becoming a circus director
Though often invoked in the leadership and identity literatures, respect has been poorly articulated. This paper conceptualizes respect as a discursive resource for making identity claims and provides empirical illustration from circus directors’ accounts of becoming managers.
Identity claims draw on particular discursive resources and enact recurrent social practices in “specific local historical circumstances” that cohere with “the local moral order”. To claim and to offer respect based on recognition, appraisal, identification, status and other discourses is to participate in such an order, and to make identity claims which are understood as positioning self and others.
We provide “transparently observable” illustrations of respect as a discursive resource for forming, maintaining, strengthening, repairing or revising identity claims. An extreme case purposive sample of circus directors provides an organizational site in which identity dynamics are “highly visible”. Within the local moral order of travelling circuses respect is both desired from and conferred upon those whose artistic merit is recognized in both single acts and whole shows. We show that the distinction between appraisal and status as respect discourses evident in the wide social order breaks down in the case of circus. We theorize from this to the importance of respect as a discursive resource in identity claims and to its dependence upon particular accounts of merit
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